Rebounding ball games are known in which competing players propel a ball against a rebound surface or backboard, attempting to place the ball strategically within a court or defined area to prevent an opponent from successfully returning the ball and thus score points. Such games as squash and racquetball are played in a full court in which the players position themselves on the court for play.
Tabletop rebounding ball games also exist wherein the court is defined by the upper surface of an elevated sheet of rigid material. As an example, backboards are known for attachment to a rectangular table tennis table, whereby players position themselves at one end of the table and propel a ball against a vertical backboard extending upwardly from the table at the other end. In these games as well players score points by rebounding the ball against the backboard to place it in a strategic position on the court, usually on the players' side of a net extending across the court between the players and the backboard, to prevent its return by the other player.
Players develop skill at such rebounding ball games through practice by learning where the ball will land on the court if propelled with a selected force against the backboard at a selected angle. Where the backboard is planar, as is generally the case, the angle of incidence of the ball relative to a normal to the backboard at the point of contact by the ball equals the angle of deflection relative to such normal. A skilled player may thus accurately place the ball at a selected position on the court by propelling it with appropriate force and at an appropriate angle against the backboard.
The present invention provides a rebounding ball game having a circular court and a spherical vertical rebound surface. The rebound characteristics of the game contemplated by the present invention differ significantly from those utilizing a planar backboard surface, in that, in the apparatus of the present invention, the angle of incidence of the ball will equal the angle of deflection relative to a radius from the notional centre of the spherical rebound surface to the point of contact thereon by the ball. The direction of the reference radius thus varies depending upon the point of contact by the ball with the spherical rebound surface, thereby increasing the difficulty of the game.
A player develops skill in the game contemplated by the apparatus of the present invention by learning the direction of the reference radius, relative to which the angle of incidence of the ball equals the angle of its deflection, at various points on the spherical rebound surface. A skilled player may thus, by propelling the ball with a selected force at a selected position on the spherical rebound surface, anticipate the resulting placement of the ball on the court, and the player may accordingly place the ball strategically on the court to prevent its return by his opponent.